Iranian state television said Sunday that the international embargo against Iraq was finished following the visit to Baghdad by Tehran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, reported (AFP)

"The embargo is now shattered," it said in a commentary, adding that Iran was planning to give "economic aid to the Muslim people of Iraq."

Kharazi flew into Iraq on Friday in defiance of UN sanctions slapped on Baghdad after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iran opposes the strict sanctions regime, including the air embargo, but had previously respected it.

Russia and France have been followed by Turkey and Arab countries in ignoring the flight ban in recent weeks. Moscow and Paris say the embargo does not include private non-commercial flights.

But Washington and London insist all flights must be approved by the UN sanctions committee.

Kharazi's visit, expected to end Sunday, is the first trip by an Iranian foreign minister to Baghdad in a decade as the two sides try to patch up remaining differences from their 1980-1988 war -- (AFP)